Vintage Japanese Woodblock Print -Beauties and Bonsai Seller- by Torii Kiyonaga
Presented is a beautiful Japanese woodblock print created in 1784 by Torii Kiyonaga and reprinted by Adachi in the 1970s.
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Edo (modern Tokyo) to a bookseller father in the Nihonbashi district, commenced formal art and woodblock print training at age fourteen in 1765 under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the Torii school, and was adopted into the Torii family. Upon Kiyomitsu's death in 1785, Kiyonaga succeeded as fourth-generation head of the Torii school, though he deferred full leadership until 1787 to hone his mastery of bijin-ga. After 1790, Kiyonaga stopped working on woodblock prints and switched to painting.
The print is called "Bonsai Seller", from the series "Brocade Pictures of Eastern Manners".
It depicts a young street vendor selling bonsai plants displayed on a shoulder pole. Two beauties with a boy-servant stopped by to examine the bonsai plants – a miniature hibiscus and a Japanese plum ume. The expression of a girl, slightly bent over, asking questions is vivid: you can feel the atmosphere of the Eastern Capital – Edo, now Tokyo. Remnants of New Year's decorations also remain in the painting, and through this clever contrast, a scene brimming with the feeling of early spring leaps to life.
The lifetime prints of this image are kept in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and the Library of Congress, among other art institutions.
The print was made using the traditional Japanese woodblock technique. It was recut and printed by the Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints in the 1970s, and shows its seal on the back of the print. Adachi is one of the most respected publishers of the 20th century. Their woodblocks were printed to the highest standards with excellent color and fine detail. Founded in 1925, Adachi also chose interesting and varied subjects for their prints and was the only publisher of many famous old ukiyo-e images.
TITLE: "Bonsai Seller" (Bonsai Uri)
SERIES: "Brocade Pictures of Eastern Manners" (Fūzoku azuma no nishiki )
AUTHOR: Torii Kiyonaga
CREATED:1784
PAPER: washi paper
METHOD OF PRINTING: Woodblock printing
PRINTED: 1970s by Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints
PRINT SIZE: Full oban size 10.25" x 15.5"
CONDITION: Excellent pre-owned condition, very minor soiling, no damage
|
|
|
|
|
